


The True Self

by Kiri_Kaitou_Clover



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, I say one-sided Riku/Sora bc that's what Kairi sees, Kairi sees the true self, POV Kairi, Selfish Kairi, character exploration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:01:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23312791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiri_Kaitou_Clover/pseuds/Kiri_Kaitou_Clover
Summary: A Princess of Heart sees beyond appearances. That much is known.So what is it, that Kairi sees in the ones closest to her?
Relationships: Kairi/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), One-sided Riku/Sora, Sora (Kingdom Hearts) & Everyone
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	The True Self

**Author's Note:**

> 5am this morning. Was struggling with sleeping I saw a post with gifs of Kairi taking off Seeker of Darkness Riku's hood in KH2.
> 
> Then I thought to myself - Hang on a moment. How was Kairi even able to tell that it was Riku? I mean sure we could handwave the moment but like look what if being able to see the true self is an ability Princesses of Heart have? Then there is Shadow Sora. How did she even tell it was him?
> 
> Thus this fic. I wrote 90% of it while I was on the bed trying to actually sleep and failing hard. The rest I finished up this afternoon? Evening? Who knows, since I ended up waking up for lunch and then going back to sleep until 5pm.

Little Kairi saw Light and Darkness. She saw it in the people around her. The two boys who often played at the fountain, her grandma, the old king, ~~the weird mercenary guard who didn’t seem right.~~

Grandma always told her, that she was special. Kairi, who could see the Light and Darkness that existed in people. Grandma said, “Kairi, you can see the Heart, but keep it a secret. There would be those who seek to use it for their own ends.”

(Neither know that this is the wrong interpretation of Kairi’s powers, but the impression remains strong when she arrives on Destiny Islands without her memory, that what she sees, is the Heart.)

* * *

Kairi has always been able to see the state of a Heart, be it saturated in Light to the point it hurts, shattered beyond recognition, engulfed in Darkness, or just normal. She sees the Heart and keeps quiet, because she knows her abilities isn't normal. But she also uses it to gauge her interactions.

Kairi is friendly with Riku initially. His Light was warm, comforting, protective. But she also knew it wasn't directed at her, and that Sora would be the sole recipient if Riku had his way.

(She sees Darkness creep into Riku's Heart as she becomes closer to Sora. She shies away from Riku as a result and spends even more time with Sora, and she fails to realise that she has caused her friend's fall, as she averts her eyes from his Heart)

Kairi sees Sora's Heart, and sees more than one. She knows that Sora cares too much and will let too many in. But at the same time it was safe and kind, too kind. His Heart was normal, nothing differing him from the masses outside of the extra Heart in him. So she stands by him, and slowly grows to love him.

(She wishes protections onto Sora, but the evening of their trip, she sees Riku's Heart black with Darkness and she fears, and she makes a selfish request, because she loves Sora and wants him safe. She doesn't realise that it was a devastating mistake, to let Riku overhear her.)

* * *

When Kairi wakes up again from the protective warmth that she knew was Sora, she’s horrified to see him vanish in her arms. Then Kairi sees the Shadow.

(She doesn't exactly see the Heart.)

And yet... and yet, she could still see that it was Sora underneath it all.

(The biggest assumption she'd made, based on faded memories, was assume that what she was seeing was the Heart, when in fact it was the true self. While she waited for a person in her faded memories, Kairi reevaluated her self, and her ability, during the two years on Destiny Islands.)

* * *

When Kairi sees Roxas, it is a bare glimpse. But she sees his still forming Heart, his self that has grown, and one more. The other Heart is awfully familiar, as if she'd seen it before, once upon a time.

Kairi meets Axel and she sees another awfully familiar Heart, this one bringing a headache as faded memories try and fail to return. She meets Saix and feels angry and saddened at the state of his true self, chained and wrapped up and emptied out.

She meets Namine and it's like looking at a mirror, only unlike Kairi, Namine apparently had power over the memories of the true self, than the ability to see it's state.

Kairi meets Riku again, and she knows it's him behind face of the Seeker of Darkness. The Darkness wasn't engulfing him, instead it was a protective layer. Controlled. A comforting Darkness with Light breaking into a warm dawn.

Kairi finally meets Sora once again, reunited at last, and she has to blink. Kairi sees not one extra, like she had prior, but now three. Two familiar, one not. She smiles. Because she finally understands what she is seeing in Sora.

Kairi sees the true self. And Kairi sees Sora’s truth, that of a wide, expansive sky, that which houses many who seek refuge, and forms bonds with those he cares for.

Kairi doubts a little, that her love is enough. So she remains blinded to one last aspect of Sora’s true self.

(She doesn’t realise that while Sora’s care for others may be expansive, his love for her is one that extends beyond death, time and space.)

**Author's Note:**

> There's a mark difference between Heart and True Self here. Heart is the initial assumption that Kairi makes because that's what she barely remembers. When I say True Self though it's more the state of themselves, regardless of if there is a Heart or not. Thus why I mention her seeing Sora in Shadow Sora, seeing Roxas growing and changing, seeing Axel and Saix bc KH3 implies so much that Nobodies even if they are faking emotion are still acting on the emotions their original selves would have.
> 
> Also Kairi is a touch selfish here. And tbh that's a flaw that is very much present in her canon form that I don't think people have noticed or touched on much. I love Kairi but that line about leaving the island without Riku was very much selfish.
> 
> (As a joke I let her see Braig and she sees Luxu but I crossed that out bc its probably better than distorting what she'd seen with zalgo text.)


End file.
